James Avery Actors you may not know are dead, Died - Dead, Actors - Actress, Voice News, Audio News,James Avery

Actors you may not know are dead, Died - Dead, Actors - Actress, Voice News, Audio News,James Avery

James Avery

Whether you call him the Big Guy or Uncle Phil, James Avery earned household name status through his portrayal of Philip Banks on The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air. Prior to making his mark on that long-running hit NBC sitcom, the burly actor had plenty of small roles throughout his TV career, although he was particularly well known for his voice acting work. Avery was the voice of Shredder on Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and War Machine on Iron Man, and he also did voices for a list of projects that included The Prince of Egypt, Extreme Ghostbusters, Fist of the North Star, and Hulk Hogan's Rock 'n' Wrestling. A fatherly presence despite his most famous character's name, Avery saddened a generation of viewers when he died from complications following heart surgery, on December 31, 2013 at the age of 68. "You can either be a movie star or an actor. I'm an actor," he once humbly summarized his career. "(But) I've done pretty good."